Fatherly Advice
by Lady Lanera
Summary: Sometimes all a son needs is his father's love. And a good hard shove. Set in GOF.


**Disclaimer:** _Harry Potter_ characters that follow are owned by J.K. Rowling. Not me.

**A/N:** This story is set during _GOF _right before the Yule Ball scene.

**Fatherly Advice**

Stepping back, Tobias looked at the now twinkling Christmas tree with a look of pride. Anyone else would say it was the tree from _Charlie Brown_, all pathetic looking and such. There were after all more dead branches than green leafy ones on it. But to him, it was beautiful.

At the sound of the front door slamming shut not long after, Tobias glanced at the entryway. El was home. When she walked in a moment later, he smiled at her.

"Oh, Tobias," she sighed exasperatedly. "Why'd you put that wretched thing up this year?"

"Ain't it pretty?" he grinned.

She frowned, though. "It looks like it was dragged behind a bus."

"El, come on. Don't be like that." He pointed at the tree. "You're hurting its feelings."

She glanced disdainfully at it. "It has feelings? How on earth can it have feelings when it looks that pitiful?"

Tobias crossed his arms immediately. He thought it looked pretty good to him. Not anything one would see in one of those stupid home magazines of course, but it had a homey feel to it.

"Just put it out of its misery and add it to the fire. Lord knows, we could use the heat tonight."

He sighed quietly and glanced back at the tree. He had spent the last hour decorating it so it'd be up for her when she finished her shift. He glanced down somberly. If he could have afforded it, he'd have bought that nice tree he had seen over on Twentieth earlier. But he barely had two shillings to his name anymore.

"You really like it, don't you, Toby?" Eileen asked softly a few moments later. She looked back at the tree and sighed. "I suppose it does have a . . . certain appeal to it on second thought."

The grin spread like wildfire across his face instantly. "I know it's stupid, but we've always had a tree up for Christmas. This was the only one I could afford this year."

She nodded slowly. Money unfortunately had been tight for both of them. But they'd survive like always somehow. She smiled a moment later as something on the tree caught her eye.

"You put up Severus's first Christmas ornament?" Her voice was softer now, as it always was whenever she'd talk about their only child.

"Yep. First thing I put on there. Had to make sure you could see it, too." He glanced at the small handmade wooden teddy bear he had carved for their son all those years ago. The paint was clearly coming off in spots now, but it still was beautiful to see.

"Too bad he's not coming this year," Eileen mumbled quietly before she turned away and headed for the stairs.

"You heard him, though. He had school stuff to do."

She glanced sharply at Tobias. "School stuff? Oh, please." She scoffed. "He merely told us that because he didn't want to hurt our feelings." She shook her head slowly. "Face it, Toby. Our little boy's decided that we're not good enough for him anymore. That he has better things to do than to spend Christmas with his parents." She stood straighter and lifted her chin defiantly. "Well, I for one am not going to get all choked up about him ditching us."

"Ditching us?" Tobias chuckled. "El, you make it sound like the boy's twelve again. He had some school stuff to do for Dumbledore. You read his letter just like I did. He'll be here the day after."

"Whatever," Eileen replied, stalking up the stairs a second later.

Tobias sighed when she left. While he'd admit that it hurt him, too, that his son decided to stay at the castle this year, he figured it was good enough that the boy was coming the day after then. At least he'd see his son at some point was his thinking. And that was good enough for Tobias.

He brushed his light brown hair back from his face and stared at the tree for a few more minutes silently. It had been a tradition they started that very first Christmas they had all been a family. The tree that year had been just as pitiful as this year, but it was a good Christmas for them. Every Christmas they were together was good, though, in Tobias's mind.

He smiled faintly at the chipped ornament on the fourth branch, remembering when he came downstairs all those years ago to find his then five-year-old son pretending that the glass ball ornaments were baseballs. He couldn't help but buy his son a bat and baseball afterwards and put them wrapped under the tree the next day. Oh, he thought for certain Eileen was going to murder him for that, but the moment she saw the happiness on their son's face when he opened the presents, she was over it.

Gently, Tobias ran his finger over another wooden homemade ornament, a cauldron this time with the engraved inscription of "Professor Snape" along its bottom. He could still recall the look on his son's face when he handed the then twenty-one-year-old Severus the ornament. His son had seemed genuinely shocked for a moment before he whispered a soft "thank you" to his dad.

It had been a difficult Christmas that year for their boy. Severus had lost Lily Evans to some evil dark magician guy that Halloween. Tobias still didn't fully understand everything that went on that year because the boy refused to talk about that time, but he did understand how deep his son's emotional wounds were with her death from the bits and pieces the boy did let slip every now and then. So he made Severus's ornament symbolize the only good thing that his son had that year, achieving his potions mastery and receiving his teaching position at Hogwarts.

Sighing inwardly, Tobias turned away from the tree and headed back to his threadbare armchair. He flopped back into it and reached to grab the folded letter on the stand beside him. His lips twitched upwards soon after when he opened the letter and saw the cramped jerky handwriting.

_I apologize for sending this by owl, but I was pressed for time and could not send it until today. I unfortunately will be unable to make it home by Christmas this year. I've been tasked to supervise an event at Hogwarts and am unable to get out of it at present time. However, I shall be home the 26__th__ and on afterwards for my holiday break._

_Until then. Severus_

Tobias could wait until then to see his son. After all, the boy was away for almost ten months out of the year as it was. Two more days of waiting weren't that horrible. At least the boy was considerate enough to inform them about it, he figured. Some children wouldn't even do that. Just make their parents worry themselves to death. Course Tobias knew that his son knew as well that if either of them made Eileen worry needlessly that there would be hell to pay for it afterwards.

He carefully folded his son's letter once more and set it on the stand beside him. He then pushed himself up and silently walked out of the sitting room. The stairs creaked as he walked up them, but he barely noticed. His son was coming home for Christmas in three days. He couldn't wait.

* * *

The wind swirled around violently outside. A storm was coming in from the coast no doubt. Tobias shook his head at that thought. He hoped Eileen would be all right when she was coming home later that night. A part of him thought about going over to the diner to make certain she could make it all right, but a bigger part of him knew that he'd be cuffed for that. If there was one thing in the world that Eileen hated more than anything, it was him treating her like she was some fragile piece of glass that needed to be coddled and fussed over constantly. She was the original independent woman by far.

His frown deepened when he heard the garbage cans suddenly start to bang around outside. It was going to be a wicked storm. He started to head for the front door when he heard the doorknob jiggle unexpectedly in front of him. He sneered as he thought of the recent break-ins on Spinner's End. He should've known they'd try his house sometime.

Grabbing the thing closest to him, one of El's vase he realized a moment later, he watched the shadow through the foggy windows. By the movements and broad shoulders, there was no doubt in Tobias's mind that it was a man on the other side. Well, if that bastard thought he was going to rob El and him, that git would learn a thing or two about choosing the wrong house.

When the door opened a moment later, Tobias charged at the intruder and slammed the end of the vase against the side of the shadowy man's head. He heard the loud pained yell instantly and smirked in satisfaction as he heard the broken pieces of porcelain hit the floor.

"Bet you didn't see that coming, you son of a bitch," Tobias growled, grabbing the injured man and slamming him up against the opposite wall a second later.

"Fuck, Dad," hissed his son, his hand suddenly pressed firmly against the side of his bleeding head. "A vase? Really? You hit me with a freaking vase?"

Tobias blinked before he groaned. "Shit, son. Why didn't you say it was you?" He released him.

"Maybe because I didn't think you'd hit me with a goddamn vase!"

"Thought you weren't coming until the day after tomorrow?"

"I'm not." Severus winced and murmured a soft spell under his breath before his bloodied hand dropped to his side, his head wound magically sealed now.

"Then what do you call this?" He heard his son's exasperated sigh instantly. So like his mother.

"I'm only here for a minute, Dad. That's all. Then I have to return to Hogwarts again."

"Why?"

"Because I need my dress robes," his son replied with a disdainful frown.

"Dress robes? What do you need them for?" He watched his son pinch the bridge of his nose before he glanced at him.

"I'm supervising a ball tomorrow night, and formal attire is required." He then glanced at him. "May I please get them now before Mum comes home and starts in on me for not staying?"

Tobias nodded slowly before he stepped to the side and motioned for him to go. He sighed, however, when his son walked past. He couldn't help but follow him upstairs soon after. Silently, he stood in the doorway to his son's room and watched him search through his morbid wardrobe. After a bit, he couldn't remain quiet any longer.

"Son?" He watched his son's shoulders sag instantly.

"Yes?"

"Are you going with anyone? To this ball thing, I mean?"

"No." Severus then pushed more dark clothes from him and searched in the very back of his cupboard. He emerged a moment later with a set of elegant black dress robes.

"Did you ask anyone?" He heard his son's sigh instantly. "I know you hate it when I start in on you about this. It's just me caring about you, though, Severus."

"I know, Dad," his son softly replied. He then turned his head to glance at him. "I didn't ask anyone, and I don't plan on it."

"Why?"

"_Because_," Severus snapped before he winced when he likely heard himself. He drew in a slow breath and started again. "Because the woman I would escort to this stupid thing is dead."

Tobias closed his eyes and sighed. "Oh, Severus," he murmured. Everything always came back to that green-eyed redhead in the end. Always.

"I love her. More than anything."

Of that, Tobias had no doubt. He ran a hand through his light brown hair, though. "It's been thirteen years, son."

"So? That doesn't mean I—"

"No. Listen to me," Tobias replied, holding up a hand and giving his son a severe look to hush him. "I'm not questioning your love for her. I know you do with all your heart." He watched his son nod slowly. "However, it's been thirteen years since her murder. You've grieved for her this entire time, hid yourself away because of it. All for a lass who—and I'm truly sorry to say this—didn't give you a second of her time after you two went to Hogwarts."

"No," Severus argued with a strangled breath.

"Yes, son. You know it just as well as I do. She turned her back on you and went off with that git who made your life hell."

"Because I called her a name. If I wouldn't have—"

"Hell, be honest with yourself. Even if you hadn't called her that, she still would've gone off with that arsehole eventually."

"You don't know that," his son growled darkly.

"You've put her on a pedestal. Made her out to be some sort of perfect goddess when she wasn't. Think about it. Just think. You came back with her after that first year. How much did you see her that summer, huh?"

"You're wrong!"

"No I ain't. You're just trying to convince yourself that you ain't." Tobias sighed quietly. "That summer she came back, and she saw you—I'd say—three days out of the week. The rest of that time she was in her room."

"She was sick that summer!" his son argued fiercely.

"Bullshit!" Tobias shook his head. "If she was that sick, don't you think her parents would've taken her to the hospital or stayed home with her a lot?" He watched his son try to spin that in his mind. "No. No, son. Don't try to convince yourself that I'm wrong. Cause we both know that I ain't."

"She was sick," his son begged softly, his voice trembling.

"No, my sweet boy. She wasn't." Tobias sat down on his son's bed and sighed. "Think about it. Really think about it. After you two went to Hogwarts, did she act like she had when you two were ten?" He heard his son's resulting shaky breaths. "Cause I bet she didn't." It hurt him to see his son's heart breaking yet again, but it really was for his son's own good. "You introduced her to that world. Gave her a taste. But when push came to shove, she did what most lasses do to nice guys like you. She tossed you aside and went off with others she thought were better. Like this Potter git."

"She hated him until I called her that name, though."

"I bet deep down she didn't. I mean, hell, your mum calls me every name in the book and then some, but we both know that she loves me, don't we?" He watched Severus cover his eyes then and waited for his son to regain his composure.

"I love her, Dad," Severus whispered unevenly minutes later.

"I know you do, son. But I think you spent enough time grieving over a lass who treated you like dirt." He held up a hand when Severus's mouth opened. "I know. I know, Sev. You don't agree with that, but I'm calling it how I see it." He sighed. "A best friend ain't supposed to abandon you. And she did. Repeatedly. I got your letters over the years to prove it."

"She died because of me."

"No, Sev. She died because some evil magician guy decided to kill her family."

"I revealed the prophecy to him, though! Me, Dad. Not anyone else. Me!"

"Stop. Stop tearing yourself up over that." Tobias leaned forward and squeezed his son's shoulder. "You couldn't possibly have known that he'd take it to mean her. You couldn't. No one could." He shook his head when his son's black eyes stared into his blue. "Shit, son. You made a mistake. A really big one it'd seem, but haven't you spent enough time flogging yourself over it? You could not have known that it'd result in her death. Ain't no fucking way you could've. And if I heard it right, you changed sides the minute you heard that bastard's plan and tried to save her."

"I could've done more."

"No. Listen to me. You did everything you could to save her. You gave it your all. She still was murdered, but short of going up against that bastard yourself and getting yourself killed, you did everything you could. Shit happens." He squeezed his son's shoulder lightly. "You've got to move on, Sev. Otherwise, one day you're going to wake up and find yourself facing all your regrets in life staring you in the face with no one by your side."

"I don't need anyone," Severus argued.

"Maybe not now, but someday you're going to get some crazy idea in your head about kids or something."

"I'll adopt then."

Tobias snorted, smiling faintly. "What about you waking up one day and realizing how cold the bed is at night? Got an answer for that one?" He saw his son's cheeks flush instantly just like Tobias knew it would with the vague mention of sex.

"I, um, I'll hire someone then." His son cleared his throat soon after, tugging on his collar.

"Good luck finding one that stays solely in _your_ bed and who doesn't have diseases, son." He heard his son's soft grumbles under his breath and chuckled. "I ain't saying that you have to jump into a relationship right away. Just, please, at least make the effort to move on from the past."

"What if I can't?"

"Oh, Severus," Tobias drawled with a soft smile. He just barely held back from ruffling his son's hair affectionately. "If you can seal a head wound with a simple whisper, you can do anything. Have faith in yourself. You can move on. It'll take time of course, but I believe in you, son."

He watched Severus for a few moments, taking note of how his son was picking at the elegant robes. There was something clearly going through the boy's mind right then. He waited a bit longer before he couldn't any longer. Tobias truly had no patience if he was honest.

"All right. Out with it, Severus. What are you thinking so intently?" He caught his son's sudden jerk of surprise instantly. "What? You always start to pick at something when you're working something out in your mind. Your mum does it, too. Probably got it from her I'd bet."

"I, um." His son then shook his head. "Never mind."

"No. Come on. Get it off your chest. You'll feel better." He watched Severus's shoulders sag in defeat and waited patiently for his son to gather his thoughts enough to talk.

"It's just I—I'm not—what if it happens again?"

"What?"

"That I care about someone and I'm too stupid to realize she doesn't reciprocate my feelings? I mean, you _are_ right, Dad." Severus tossed the robes onto the bed beside Tobias before he quietly paced. "Lily didn't care for me like that. I thought she might eventually, but she . . . she was gone before then."

"Then that lass ain't worth your time." He gave his son a faint smile when he met his eyes. "Listen to me. I believe with all my heart that there's someone out there for everyone. Now, your mum thinks that makes me sound like some idiot, of course, but it's what I believe. So, I know that there's some woman out there who loves you with all her heart, who wants to be with you and only you, and who brings out the best in you." He caught a quick flash of something in his son's black eyes then. "What? What was that thought just then?"

"Huh?"

"You just thought of something. What was it?" He noted his son's evasiveness instantly and narrowed his eyes. "Severus?" He then saw his son's nervousness. "Someone crossed your mind just then, didn't they?"

"It doesn't matter if it did." Severus turned away.

"Why?"

"Because." Severus paused and then inhaled slowly. "I pushed her away, Dad." He sighed quietly, running a hand through his raven locks. He then sat down beside Tobias. "Every time I was near her, I felt like I was betraying Lily. You know? So when she got too close yesterday, I-I pushed her away." He frowned and hung his head. "Well, shoved her away was more like it."

"So apologize to this lass."

"I can't. She won't ever forgive me." Severus held his head in his hands then.

"Well, have you even tried?"

"No, but if Lily didn't forgive me for calling her a stupid name when we were kids, why would Au—why would she, Dad?" He glanced out his window and sighed.

Tobias watched his son for a few moments. If ever there was a puzzle he couldn't figure out, it'd be his son. He never could figure him out. Though, he guessed it was because Severus took after Eileen a lot in terms of personality and hid his emotions from all. That protective instinct of theirs sometimes sent Tobias up the wall screaming in utter frustration because he wouldn't know how to help them. Not that either of the two ever wanted Tobias's help, of course.

He ran a hand through his long hair and thought on his past conversations with his son. His boy had always thought too much on things in Tobias's opinion. Well, social things at least. He glanced back at his son and scratched his jaw as a thought came to him.

"Does this second lass know about Lily?"

"Yeah." Severus shrugged then. "Not fully, though. She knows that Lily and I were best friends for years until our fifth year."

"All right." Now, they were getting somewhere. At least to somewhere where Tobias could at least come up with an idea of how to help. "Then tell her the truth. Just what you told me. That you felt like you were betraying Evans. And then apologize." He watched his son's eyes narrow on him. "If this second lass cares for you that much, then I'd bet she'd understand and forgive you."

"No." Severus shook his head adamantly. "She won't forgive me. Not after that." He then rubbed his face silently and let out a loud puff of air. "I, I screwed it up. I just . . . I'm not ready. Not to move on. Maybe next year or something, but not now."

"If not now, then when, Severus?" Tobias frowned and shook his head. He knew he was treading on dangerous ground with his son, but he just couldn't stay quiet. It was the dad in him. "You've been stuck in the past for thirteen years. If you keep waiting, you're just going to stay there. Stuck."

Severus glanced at him. "I'm not ready, Dad."

"Then just be friends with her for a bit. Take it slow. Just don't keep letting your life pass you by. Otherwise, you're going to wake up and realize you missed an opportunity."

"Why are you pushing this?" his son pleaded with that heartbreaking look of his.

"Because I don't want you to live a life full of regrets, son."

His son drew in a sharp breath instantly, which was a clear sign that he was trying to convince himself of something. The boy really hadn't changed much from when he was seven.

"Well, maybe I don't deserve to be with someone, Dad," he snapped, his face falling briefly before he regained his composure once more.

"Ah, hell, you don't believe that."

"Why not? Like you said, it's been thirteen years, and I'm still pining after a—after her."

"And what? That somehow makes you not deserve happiness?" Tobias shook his head. The boy was almost as bullheaded as he was. "You know that your mum would cuff you for that, right?"

"Well, she's not here, is she?" his son hissed, sneering as he battled with his emotions. He clearly was alternating between breaking down and yelling at the world. A moment later, he finally settled on something and turned on his heel before he headed for the door to flee.

"Just where the hell do you think you're going?" Tobias called after him.

"Away from you," Severus snarled, almost reaching the door now.

"What about your robes?"

"To hell with them!"

"Running from this ain't gonna help, son." He sighed silently when he saw his son stop instantly with his hand on the doorknob. "I wish it would, but it ain't." He stayed on his son's bed, knowing that if he stood up and walked to his son now, the boy would just run again. He gently picked up Severus's elegant dress robes beside him and held them quietly as he waited.

"I love her, Dad," his son whispered shakily, clearly fighting the storm raging inside him.

"But?" Tobias cut in, knowing that there was a 'but' in there by the way his son was acting.

"What if I forget her?"

"Ain't gonna happen, son." He flashed a faint smile when his son turned back towards him, clearly needing Tobias to throw him more of the lifeline to save him from his overwhelming grief. "A part of you will always love her. I mean, hell, son, she's your first crush."

"Then I won't ever move on."

"Oh, you will. Eventually." He patted the open spot beside him and waited for his son to walk back across the room to him. He nodded at Severus when he sat down next to him a moment later. "Laura Edwards," he quietly said with a sigh, recalling his schooldays. "She was a pretty lass that all the boys wanted. Popular as hell, too. Had the warmest smile I had ever seen. And the biggest heart, too." He shrugged, shaking his head. "One day I was getting my arse handed to me by a few knuckleheads in the alley. Punched, spat on, you name it, and they did it to me. Well, she came around and found them stomping on me while I was down on the ground in a damn ball. She yelled at them to stop, and they did cause it was her. Well, Laura helped me home, fixed me right again. Shit, son, I tell you. I was convinced that I loved her. You know? This pretty little angel coming down and caring for me."

"What happened to her?"

"Married eventually. Last I heard, and it's been thirty-some years mind you, she was in London." He shook his head. "I didn't love her, though, Severus. Not like I love your mum." He shrugged. "But, you know, sometimes I still think about her from time to time. Doesn't mean I don't love your mum any less. Just, well, Laura was my first crush. Those one's always hit you the hardest. Sock you right in the nose." He then patted his son's knee gently. "Real love, though—now that one takes your breath away, son. Cause you soon realize that this woman you've got in your arms is now your oxygen, your one thing you can't live without and don't ever want to try. She's the one you find yourself fighting for constantly. And a woman worth your love is one who's by your side through the good and the bad. That's how I know your mum's the one. She's still with me after thirty-five years of having no money and shitty anniversaries." He chuckled, catching the slight smile on his son's face.

"Thanks, Dad," Severus softly said soon after.

Tobias nodded. He then let the silence settle around them for a bit. He knew his son well enough to know the boy needed a breather. They were covering rather heavy subjects after all. It was several minutes before he heard his son's throat clearing.

"Um, could I have my robes?"

He handed them over instantly with a faint smile. "You good, Sev?"

"Yes. I think so." Severus pulled the robes tight against himself before he sighed. "Dad?"

"Yeah?"

"What do you think about my robes?"

Tobias chuckled quietly and glanced at them. "What do you mean?"

"Do you think they're, you know, morbid or something?"

He clapped him on the back. "Sev, the day I see you in something other than black is the day I start to wonder who the hell you are and what you did to my son."

"I don't always wear black," Severus frowned.

"Uh-huh. And your mum doesn't always cuff you upside the head either when you come home." He smirked and shook his head. "Why do you ask?"

"I don't know." Severus sighed heavily then.

"You thinking about asking that lass now?"

"Maybe. I don't know." He shrugged, picking at his dress robes silently. "Just as friends, though. I'm really not ready for more than that yet."

Tobias nodded, watching his son pick at it more. "You still worried she won't forgive you?"

"I was a first-class arse to her, Dad. I knew deep down how much it took for her to work up the courage to ask me, and I just brushed it off and hurled insults at her instead."

"You needed to deal with stuff first. As long as you explain it, I'm sure she'll understand." Faintly, Tobias heard the front door open again followed by Eileen's loud grumbling downstairs. "Guess she found the vase." He smiled widely when Severus laughed.

"Dad?"

"Yeah?"

"Could we not tell Mum about the whole" he glanced around briefly "lady trouble I'm having?"

Tobias nodded, smiling. "Afraid she'd butt in?"

"Not really. I just don't want her to start in on the grandchildren thing right now."

"Understood." Tobias pushed himself up off the bed. He caught his son's confusion and held out a hand to him. "You know El. If she finds out you're here and I didn't tell her, she'll kill us both."

"Coward."

"Nah. It's that wicked self-preservation you get from me, son," Tobias joked. He grinned when Severus rolled his eyes before his son joined him standing a moment later. He wrapped an arm around his son's shoulder, and together they walked downstairs.

There in the sitting room stood Eileen with her arms crossed and a ticked look on her face. Her eyes passed over them both briefly before her jaw clenched slightly.

"Explain," she demanded, glaring at them, "now!"

"Well, you see, El," Tobias started with a chuckle, noticing his son glance at him. "Funny story."

"I'm not laughing," she replied darkly, tapping her finger dangerously on her arm.

Before Tobias could even say anything else, Severus cut in and said, "Dad hit me with the vase."

"Way to sell me up the creek there, son," Tobias grumbled.

"You did, _what_?" she screeched, clearly envisioning cuffing him with a board a hundred times.

"In my defense, I thought he was breaking in," Tobias explained with his hands held up.

Her eyes then darted back to their son. "What are you doing here anyway?"

"Uh, well, um," Severus stuttered before he held up his dress robes. "To get these."

"This is not a hotel, Severus Tobias," she hissed, glaring at him. She then held up a hand to cut them off. A second later, she pulled her son into a warm embrace. "Next time, call, you foolish brat. That way you don't get hit with a vase."

"Yes, Mum," their son replied respectfully.

"Good boy. Now, go to your stupid dance and come straight home after so you don't ruin our entire Christmas."

Tobias watched his son's shoulders sag and bit back a chuckle. They both knew better than to argue with her. It never worked in either of the men's favors usually.

"Yes, Mum."

She kissed Severus's cheek and smiled. "That's my little boy." She then glanced at the dress robes he held loosely in his hands. "Black always was a good color on you. I'm sure she'll agree."

Tobias and Severus both blinked in surprise. They watched her walk away from them in stunned silence. How in the world did she know?

"Oh, and, Severus?" she called over her shoulder. "You have five years for grandchildren. Happy Christmas." She then disappeared up the stairs right after there was a loud groan from their son.

"Damn it," their son grumbled under his breath.

Tobias merely patted him on the back and smiled. "Could've been worse, son. She could've said she was coming to supervise." He snorted when he saw his son's eyes widen. "Go on. We'll see you in a couple of days. And you better tell us all the details, too."

His son huffed. He then turned away and sighed. "Night, Dad."

"Night, son."

He watched Severus walk away silently. He sincerely hoped his boy enjoyed himself at this dance and that everything went well for him. Lord knew the boy needed some good in his life after all. When he heard the front door close a moment later, he stepped into the hallway. He smiled faintly when he saw the now fixed vase sitting on the table beside the door.

"That's my boy," Tobias quietly said aloud. He then turned away and walked upstairs. He chuckled when he saw his wife standing in their bedroom window peeking out from behind the curtain and likely watching their son walk down the cobblestone street. "We did good with him, didn't we, El?"

"Acceptable at least," she replied, turning towards him and getting ready for bed soon after. "Maybe tomorrow I'll send an owl to Minerva. Just to make sure he's all right."

Tobias smiled and cuddled up behind her. Christmas was surely going to be interesting this year.


End file.
